NON Melee Ranger, advice needed.

fun4ever · July 2019

In every MMO i play ranged classes (so hate melee). So when i start NW several month ago i choose Hunter Ranger (was thinking its Archer)... Leveling was ok and enjoying, was mostly using Bow (sometimes melee when get swarmed by mobs).

But... when start go deeper in to endgame, i was shocked and very disappointed... is endgame Ranger nothing more but Flurryed Storm Striker ??? All i see from "good dps" HR in endgame dungeons is - Storm Strike spam again and again and again and... This is so boring and i hate melee classes.

So my question, is there any viable Archery build Ranger for endgame (mb Rapid Shot or Aimed Shot builds) ???
I almost finished all Campaigns, and realy dont want reroll to overpowered Smolder Wizard !

Please help and advise...

plasticbat · July 2019

fun4ever#6757 said:

I almost finished all Campaigns, and realy dont want reroll to overpowered Smolder Wizard !

Please help and advise...

You can't re-roll class even if you want to.

thefiresidecat · July 2019

1st of all wiz is not op. it's in a good place. 2nd of all yeah archery is trash for end game. you aren't that far in. keep your ranger as an alt and start a new toon as wizard. if you dont want to be a viable powerful toon though (As I kind of glean from your talk about wizard) then by all means stay ranged archer. lol

mythdrannor32 · July 2019

Nps DPS with Archery Rangah in this game. You need two loadouts, AoE and Single Target. AoE works 90% of time,. Single target for LOMM mimics etc.

aodfireraven · July 2019

I had a decent archer build going before the last mod but got screwed when they moved things around and ended up with half my stuff on one paragon path and half on the other. Haven't came up with anything decent so far.

cherryman1 · July 2019

One of the biggest issues with ranged classes in MMOs is that they are extremely hard to balance in game. The ranger class right now is low on damage. In the testing for Mod 16 the beta had archer as a very powerful class (probably the best one). The issue when it was that powerful is the same issue that barbarian was nerfed on speed in the current mod for, which is killing everything before the other classes can join in the fight. I haven't see a game balance ranged/melee well ever. So, while you might not enjoy melee the same can be said with ranged for some people. The other thing is that based on how they developed parts of the game the ranged effectiveness has always been very limited since in some mods the only classes that did some content in much older mods which is why I took a break were single classes. They had a mod that CC and ranged were the only ways to do content. Only 2 classes were in content at that time and the best was a party without any tanks/healers/buffers and just CC and range. The other issue they have if they make a ranged meta is that there are 3 classes that can't do anything ranged. They only do melee combat. To make the ranged combat more viable would require not having classes that are limited in what role they can do. This would mean giving ranged abilities to barbarians, fighters and rogues.

greywynd · August 2019

Pointy sticks into the enemy.

drartwhodent · August 2019

I do quite well with an archery only Ranger, but I am over powered at 25.4k total IL.
The suggestion for 2 loadouts is right on the money. A single target loadout and an AoE loadout.

clericalist · August 2019

The ranger archer is easily the weakest dps class of them all. The only class you will beat in paingiver is healing support (even beating tank roles is not a given) if stats are more or less equal. At best you will do about half damage than the best dps in most PUGS.

I don't think anyone was demanding that playing ranged was the best meta for dps, but the current status is ludicrous. The archer was bad before mod 16 but this is simply not acceptable anymore. I have tried both warden and hunter paths, I have tried the lightning enchant, every kind of encounter combinations, nothing has worked. Sure there are many situations where shooting from range is advantageous, but there are also many other situations where this not really helpful, even if shooting from range was less risky to do all the time, the difference in damage they are giving the archer is way too low.

Unknown · August 2019

This content has been removed.

pwimagicgame · August 2019

Ranger = proof of concept for useless designers.

feuerwolf · August 2019

I really love my 100% bow archer, BUT I am 100% solo player.
It is a shame what they have done to this class. Group play using a bow is... #sigh

feanor70118 · August 2019

They haven't really known what to do with the class or put significant effort into it in years. I'm curious about what exactly some people above are doing to make an archer build work well in this post-mod 16 mess, but as I've been playing the class since mod 2, I've observed that every time we get a decent ranged build it gets nerfed into the ground. We haven't had a decent hybrid build in years now. Every "rework" we've been promised has proved to be a dud. I'm not saying there haven't been positive things but it's always seemed like we're the lowest priority for the devs. When we couldn't DPS effectively in mod 6 we were told that we were nevertheless "a bit broken," but they meant in the overpowered way. At a time when the class was almost entirely useless in both pve and pvp we were told that it was "in a good place." As for basic issues like slow movement compared to heavily armored classes, long cooldowns, pathetically weak at-wills, non-functional dodge, stealth and healing abilities, slow stamina regeneration? Crickets for five years.

So, welcome to our misery.

kangkeok · August 2019

I have been waiting for archery to be viable again since release of mod 6 ( march or april 2015? ). 4 years and nothing.

tassedethe13 · August 2019

feanor70118 said:
I'm curious about what exactly some people above are doing to make an archer build work well in this post-mod 16 mess

For some people it just mean they can solo quest without dying, fighting packs and staying alive using healing potions, and manage to beat CN.

feanor70118 · August 2019

tassedethe13 said:

feanor70118 said:
I'm curious about what exactly some people above are doing to make an archer build work well in this post-mod 16 mess
For some people it just mean they can solo quest without dying, fighting packs and staying alive using healing potions, and manage to beat CN.

My archer loadout is single-target (and the same gear as my other builds - it only makes a few per cent difference to change one ring and a companion ability or two) and it's just fine for solo play but I wouldn't insult any other 4 players by taking it into a a dungeon. With strong parties I've used it in the occasional no-adds boss fight but it's not something I'd try when I'm the main DPS.

I know others don't like it, but I miss the trapper play style. It gave the class a reason to use both weapons and before the nerfhammer senselessly neutered it, it was able to take advantage of enchantments (plaguefire, then dread) that are useless to all other classes and builds. All it needed was to be given the damage it had been robbed of by the failure to make thorned roots damage stack (or convert to burst damage rather than stack) and the failure to add thorned roots damage to Plant Growth, which is literally a giant tangle of thorned roots, but I guess we can't have basic logical consistency here. It added real variety to the game and I guess that was disturbing to some. The mod 2 hybrid was nice too, and was also taken away For No Good Reason.

Oh, and I forgot to mention above the class' ludicrously long animations, some of which effectively break stealth to make them even more useless in pvp.

And the slow AP gain, particularly obnoxious since certain feats and gear are meant to synergize with dailies and, oh, they took Disruptive Shot away from Warden For No Good Reason. It's almost as if they don't listen to people who actually play the class at all.

micheal1979 · August 2019

Ranged and trapper were hurt, ninja (aka melee warden) is top dps in end game. I am hopefull with all the movement in ToMM come mod 17 we will be able to make trapper viable again so we can dps at any range. Archer/Trapper is a great side project, but ya shouldn't be used in groups of randoms.

bobby4700 · August 2019

i been playing Hr; now ranger for 5 years seen the ups and downs at 1 time we where pretty much non killable with life steal. i play a hybrid build with over 160 k power and do fine in dung with other types of dps but i do have a lot in my ranger , and to see other class s with lot less in there toon doing same or near same damage is sad .this being said hybrid build took hit on having the different options on encounters. and full archery just don t see it cause a lot dungeon s are small areas not open fields . and melle does great damage but not equal to other dps class's that have the same lvl gear and refines. so play for the fun of it if u like the class or make a new class and play that till they decided to make us more viable.

sandukutupu · August 2019

Will Robert Snooks a Warden
At Wills: Electric Shot and Rapid Fire
Encounter Powers: Rain of Arrows, Cordon of Arrows, Split the Sky
Dalies: Snipe and Call of the Storm
Passives: Stormstep Action and Blade Storm
Feats: Focused, Storm's Recovery, Storm Conduit, Into the Wind, Enhanced Conductivity
Abilities:
STR: 24
CON: 21
DEX: 25
INT: 13
WIS: 11
CHR: 20

Boons don't make a big difference, ever since they nerfed them into the ground for all classes. I think everyone can agree with me when I say, any boon points should just go into power and healing. Gear is where you are going to make any difference but then we all know the gear is micro-managed. Will does just fine still wearing his Woodlord's armor from module 14 (yes 3 mods ago). I know you are asking for something like IL 20K, I seriously doubt Will is going to change much, over the course of time, until he upgrades his armor down the road. Your gear is where the lion's share of the Item Level comes from in the first place.

As for playing my ranger, I stay on my bow with Electric Shot until the enemies are swamping me and swap to blades. Then use Call of the Storm (if available) and I use Clear the Ground.

NON Melee Ranger, advice needed.

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